Hawthorne Elementary in Sioux City Shines!

Our afternoon on Tuesday took us to Hawthorne Elementary. Hawthorne is a Kindergarten through 2nd grade building with a “sister” building at Leeds Elementary where the neighborhood 3rd through 6th graders go to school. In the fall of 2008 Sioux City Community Schools will open a brand new building, Leeds Elementary where students from Hawthorne, Leeds and Lowell elementary will come together. The giant panda sits in a reading center at Hawthorne Elementary.


Curtis Taylor (at left), Kindergarten teacher at Hawthorne Elementary, leads his class in a FOSS (Full Option Science System) lesson on “sink or float”. Curtis is currently participating in the ISEA course on “Preparing for National Board Certification”. Mr. Taylor's Kindergarten students first worked at their tables adding large paper clips on top of a small piece of wood in their individual water tubs. Students continued adding paper clips until the wood sank. Here (on right) the students count their paper clips that made the wood sink and they discuss as a group what the numbers gathered mean.



Mrs. Nicole Nelson, Nationally Board Certified Art teacher at Hawthorne, leads a 1st grade class in symmetry. Nicole explained to me that she is in her 12th year of teaching (first 3 in Illinois). She said that since she on an averages sees each classroom for 32 lessons throughout the school year, she focuses her lessons each year around a country. She integrates her Art instruction around language skills, literary, and geography. This year’s lessons are centered on Africa.


Students in Donna Walsh's 2nd grade homeroom participate in a Reader’s Theater for our enjoyment. Their lesson for us is on George Washington Carver. It was such a delight to listen to the young voice speak with ease as they came upon multi-syllable words and read with such expression!

I read aloud the book Officer Buckle and Gloria to Mrs. Walsh’s 2nd graders. They especially loved the work of Gloria, Officer Buckle’s police dog. Here (on left) is Mrs. Walsh, president of the Sioux City Education Association and her 2nd graders. They were such terrific listeners!


At the end of the school day (and it was Picture Day too!) staff gathered for snacks and beverages in the school Media Center for conversation.









Also joining us on our school visit to Hawthorne Elementary was Gayle Jeffers (blue skirt in photo on right), French teacher at Sioux City East High School and member of the NEA Board of Directors.


Also joining us was school building leader/principal Len Hansen. I hit it off right away with Len in my visit last year when we discovered his parents live on the same street as I do in Council Bluffs--Midland Drive! Len is pictured here with 2nd grade teacher Donna Walsh.

It was great to reconnect with everyone at Hawthorne Elementary again. Thanks for your continued great work for Iowa's students!